


The Divine Series

by catdean0106



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Angels, Angels, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Guardian Angels, Romance, Sexual Tension, True Love, Underworld, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 18:19:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17411861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catdean0106/pseuds/catdean0106
Summary: "You're never so lost that your guardian angel cannot find you." - Full summary inside. Stefan x OC. Slightly AU. Setting: Post Season 4





	1. Summary / About

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This will be a slightly AU TVD fanfic so some things in my story are staying canon and others will not. This is POST season 4 and we are going to pretend the whole Silas bit never happened(yet) and Stefan was not stuck in a safe, etc. Stefan never left Mystic Falls and stuck around. XD The summary is below.]

What if Seline had not been the one to intervene in 1917? What if The Monterey Ripper's subconscious had been altered by another being?

_"You were deserted by your kind because you saved me, a vampire that was fated for eternal damnation."_

_"Stefan, I never saw a creature that was fated for eternal damnation. I saw a soul that was worthy of redemption, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat."_

♡

The Divine were here since the start of time. Holding court, regin and rule over mankind and appearing before the humans as deities and gods. 

The Divine were sprinkled all over the world to give guidance, fight the dark wars with the underworld (unbeknownst to mortals) and watch over the mortals. They were to intervene when circumstances were allowed by The Creator. 

But mostly, they played the part of sitting back and watching the world unfold, lending a hand at times and giving the mortals the tools they needed to prosper and survive. 

They were, in a sense, the Guardian Angels of the mortals

When a Divine's time was up they would fade and become part of the stars, forever part of the sky, but no longer physically attached to the world. 

A new set of Divine would appear and then the cycle would repeat as they would fade into the stars after a time, and another new group of Divine would be created. This cycle had been going on for decades, and not once did the Divine ever attach themselves to a particular human, nor mate with one.

Until a group of Divine from the mid 1800's grew curious. Three of the five Divine that roamed the Earth mated with a human counterpart. 

The results were Halflings.  
Three of them to be exact.  
The Creator took pity on the babies and spared them from execution. They might not hold a place like the Divine did, but they would be permitted to walk the Earth unscathed from persecution. 

Eleanor "Ella" Harpe was a result of this mating. She was born from a Divine mother and a mortal father. 

Her mother faded from existence and into the stars when she was thirteen years old, but not before learning about her history, her powers, and the importance of what she was, and the very scary knowledge that she would age significantly slow once she reached puberty due to her Divine powers. 

Fate would bring the three Halflings together when she was around sixteen, and so they traveled together in a pack, as a family. Ella's father was insistent she be with her own kind and it was safer for them to be together than scattered apart. She parted ways with her father, but she knew it was for the best.

They lived amongst humans as best they could, but together all the while. They practiced their abilities, had each other's backs and learned to walk through life as Halflings, no true purpose other than to survive without being detected by humans.

They would be known through time as the Unholy Trinity. 

Until Ella violated one of the Sacred Rules of the Divine.

Ella intervened with an abomination of nature, altering its memories. The moment she intervened with Stefan's life was the moment her two counterparts decided to split. They didn't feel safe around Ella, and feared her actions would cause the Divine to persecute them all.

The Unholy Trinity split.

Her isolation from her counterparts was her penance for intervening with Stefan Salvatore. Yet, she continued to intervene like a guardian angel a time or two more in his life. Fate always had a way of pulling her to wherever Stefan was at. 

Eleanor Harpe knew that the creature that had just obliterated an entire village on Christmas Eve was supposed to be one of the damned, the abominations in the Divine's eyes.

It didn't stop her from intervening and using her Divine powers to alter his memory of what had happened, and make him believe he was worthy of living.

It also didn't stop Ella from intervening a time or two more in Stefan Salvatore's lifetime when he was on the precipice of losing control.

To Stefan, the girl was like a ghost, an ethereal angel always showing up in the darkest moments of his history, and her face haunted his dreams..so close, but always out of his reach.

Sometimes Stefan wondered if she had even been real, or if she was merely a figmant of his tormented mind.

To Ella, Stefan was a lost soul that was worthy of love, kindness and redemption, despite what her upbringing told her about the creatures of the night.

Ella and Stefan have always been like ships passing in the night.

Until now. 

When the Underworld rises into the human world with the help of rogue witches, they strike down a handful of the Divine. In desperation, the remaining Divine seek out Ella to help stop the rise of demonic forces.

The Divine will need the help from the most unlikely of sources to fight against the rogue witches and the Underworld demons. It just so happens the magical ley lines from Mystic Falls has attracted the attention of the Underworld. 

The Divine send Ella to Mystic Falls to stop the demonic forces there, while they hold off other demonic armies in other parts of the world. They insist she find her counterparts and become the Unholy Trinity once again.

In Mystic Falls she fatefully meets Stefan Salvatore once again, but this time instead of passing one another, their ships collide.

As Ella fights alongside new and old friends, she learns the bond that has brought Stefan and her together over time may have been more than coincidental. 

It may have been Divine Intervention.

♡

Setting: Post Season 3

_Disclaimer:_  
I do not own TVD, nor their characters or plot lines. I do own my made up plots and characters.


	2. Prologue - The Monterey Ripper

_Time - 1917_

Death had a distinct smell to it. 

It was a combination of decay, rotting meat, and something so despairing that the smell wasn't the only thing that would send you doubling over, and putting your hand to your mouth to fight the bile from rising. 

Death was rancid, plain and simple.

The atmosphere that surrounded death was not a place for the Unholy Trinity. Though they were disparaged from having anything to do with the Divine and their duties given their Halfling nature, they couldn't fight the crippling feeling tragedy and death had on them when they came upon it. 

The Unholy Trinity were Halflings, souls that bore both Divine and mortal blood, and such a soul was still affected the same way a Divine would if they encountered such a sight as they had just now. 

Their mortality, from what they were told, would be their downfall. They didn't have the resolve and discipline that the Divine did, but it didn't mean they weren't working on it. 

Where the Divine saw black and white, the Halflings saw the grey space in between. Their mortality meant they would die one day of old age, but the irony was that their Divine blood made them age slowly once they hit puberty. 

They would span hundreds of years before the wrinkles of mortality caught up to them. 

Mortality also meant that their feelings would cloud their judgement, that their empathy would be heightened, and they would not be able to comprehend what had to be done versus what they felt needed to be done based off their emotions. 

They were a trio of angsty Divine Halflings and though they had stayed the good path thus far, it wasn't until 1917 when the smell of death would lead Eleanor Harpe astray from her friends, and the results would separate them for almost a hundred years. 

\----

Three horses trotted along a path in the woods, the clip clop of the steps the only sound to be heard in the early morning hours. The sun was just peeking through the tree tops, blessing the three riders with its rays of heat that warmed their skin from the previous night of barren cold. It was Christmas Day, the joyous holiday where families celebrated with friends and family, where children opened their presents from Santa Claus.

Ella loved the holiday, and though they were not celebrating it in the fashion they usually do, she was still feeling festive, humming a harmonious tune, taking in the beauty of the forest around them. 

She was adorned in a white dress with long sleeves, which meant by mid-day she would be sweltering in the heat if they didn't get to their destination quick enough. She bore a wide brim white hat to match the dress, it was tilted up so that the sun rays could hit her face. 

Ella was a fair skinned dame with mid length espresso brown locks, her eyes were amber gold, which startled most mortals. She had a button nose with chipmunk cheeks, her lips were full and resembled fluffy pink cushions. She was dainty and flat chested than most, but had an hour glass figure at a whopping 5'4.

Her left hand rubbed her white and black speckled horse soothingly, murmuring whispers in its ears, reaffirming the creature it was doing a great job, and they had a little further to go. 

Jasmine, or "Jazzy" as they called her, was directly in front of Ella, her wild hair askew from sleep, her lengthy black dress was a few shades darker than her cocoa colored skin. She had the face of regal beauty, her eyes were honey colored, but they were so very aware. She had a full figure with voluptuous assets to go along with it. Her dimpled chin always tickled Ella.

Jazzy looked back at Ella, who brought up the rear. Jazzy smirked lightly at Ella, to which Ella smirked back as Thomas led the way in the front, his black horse trotting along with determination. 

Jazzy nodded her head silently towards Thomas and Ella shook her head with a stifled giggle. Jazzy gripped her reigns and snapped them, her espresso brown horse taking off and forcing Thomas to slow down as Jazzy now pulled to the front of the line.

Thomas cried out in protest, "Follow the leader, Jazzy!" 

He briefly tried to reclaim his place as the leader, but Jazzy turned around, sticking out her tongue and then facing front again. Jasmine LaGrange was also a Halfling, and though she was playful at times, she was brutally honest, true to her beliefs and she had a firm grip on the group as a whole. 

Jazzy was the person you went to when you wanted the truth and nothing but the truth, she was the person that didn't like to beat around the bush when it came to her feelings. She was also very much attracted to the same sex, which Ella and Thomas had no qualms with. 

Jazzy had made it abundantly clear form the get go that she was not interested in Thomas and he needed to understand now before he got his heart crushed. 

Jazzy was also very confident in herself, so much so she told Thomas she knew that he would develop a crush on her, but she wanted to squash it from the very beginning before anything got said later down the line. 

She could remember vividly the shade of red that Thomas's face had turned when he was told anything between Jazzy and him would never happen. Ella had giggled shamelessly. She had always admired Jazzy's confidence from day one. 

Jazzy's downfall was her pride and stubborn nature, and it showed a time or two in their travels together. 

Ella had coincidentally met Jasmine first, somehow Jasmine had drifted to her hometown and when Ella saw her it was as if their souls recognized one another. It was evident from the glow that shrouded Jasmine what she was. That glow was only visible to that of Divine blood.

Not long before Ella found her, Jazzy's father had been slaughtered by a creature in the night, an eternally damned soul, and her mother had since passed on to the stars above so Jasmine fled before stumbling upon Ella. 

Two nights later, Thomas showed up in the town, his eyes searching for something he didn't quite know, but then he saw Jasmine and Ella staring at him; he knew he had found familiars. 

Thomas Westfield had been the son of a doctor and provided the comic relief in the trio of three. His mother, like theirs, had been a Divine and when she had taken her place amongst the stars his father was completely torn apart. Thomas said his father developed a penchant for the bottle, and so Thomas left his father as the calling of something pulled him away from his home. 

Thomas was a tanned skin boy with light brown hair, it was always rumpled and somehow it still looked perfect. He had a set of blue eyes that stole the hearts of many and a boyish face that enticed the entire female population. He wasn't super tall, average at best, but he had a lean body. His built more slender, but his dimpled cheeks made up for a lack of muscles.

Thomas's downfall was his gullible nature, and his good heart. It had gotten him in trouble a time or two along the way as well, and Ella had witnessed the old saying when no good deed goes unpunished. 

Soon after the three decided to stick together, making a pact to keep to the sacred rules of the Divine, while also practicing their abilities and having each other's backs, through thick and thin. They would stick together because in reality, they had no one but each other. 

Their slowly aging bodies would be deemed as immoral and witchcraft to humans. They could not live a normal life like they had always thought they would. 

Thus, The Unholy Trinity was born. 

Ella had been the quiet one of the three, silently watching and observing with a whimsical heart. Jazzy said that Ella had her head in the clouds and her heart in her books, and Ella wouldn't deny it. She was a fluttering soul, like a butterfly she flew from one place to another with her friends, carrying on with bright eyes that saw the world as a very beautiful and fascinating place. 

Ella was the kind of girl that loved to make memories, she always wanted to make the most of everything, and it was more often than not that she was the one coaxing the Jazzy and Thomas into attending events, plays, or events that required dancing and drinking. 

If Ella were to live a very long life, then she would revel in it and not a waste a second of it drowning in fear, hesitation or pessimism. Ella's downfall would be her heart, her empathy would know no bounds, and where The Divine saw black and white, Ella was always the first of the group to see the grey in between the black and white. 

Thomas looked back at Ella, he was adorned in brown trousers and an off-white button down that was untucked, is pants however were tucked into his black riding boots. 

His hair was somehow almost perfect, despite them just waking up not too long ago on the forest floor. 

"Do you smell that, El?" Thomas started, but stopped as Ella pulled the reigns tightly, stopping her horse abruptly. 

Her eyes locked with Thomas, his face turned a shade of white, much like that of a ghost. He stopped his horse, clicking his tongue to command it, while Ella rubbed Cleo, her horse, nervously. 

That smell. 

Jazzy stopped ahead when she realized the two were not behind her, turning her steed around carefully and watching as Ella unmounted off her horse and slid down, tying the ropes around a tree, and wiping her hands off on the sides of her dress. 

"Ella-" Thomas whispered, as his eyes held fast to a small opening in the forest that led to a clearing. 

She looked up at Jazzy as she came trotting over to her, her eyes wide as they assessed the opening, the stench catching hold of her, her nostrils flaring in disgust. 

"Oh my god." Jazzy murmured, her right-hand shooting to cover her mouth as the waves of decay and death were hitting them all full force. 

Their auras were glowing, bright and billowy as their emotions caused the intensity of their auras to burn brighter. Thomas was still, his face still a shade of white as his mouth was agape. 

"Don't-Ella, get back here." Jazzy whispered fiercely, much like a mother would to a child. 

Ella's footsteps crunched in the leaves and dirt, her hands brushing back low-lying branches and pushing back a small brush before stepping over a root in the ground. 

She pushed her braided hair away from her shoulder, letting it hang behind her back as her amber-gold eyes fully took in the scene before her once she stepped a few feet into the clearing. 

Her entire body went cold, her throat became like sandpaper as every ounce of breath left her lungs, no force in the world could make her speak right now. Her throat was robbed of all use as the bodies around the village became apparent, some dismembered and some so badly torn open at the throat their muscle and tissue hung out. 

Their faces were full of terror and fear.

One woman's eyes were so big they bulged from her head as if she died seeing the most horrific thing she'd ever witnessed. 

Ella put a hand to her mouth, covering her lips as a knee jerk reaction to the grisly scene before her. Ella took another hesitant step in the clearing, her eyes slowly scanning women, men and ....

Children 

The smell of death was so abundant her throat constricted and she almost gagged, but she pushed it back down. Little bodies lay silently on the ground, as if they were merely sleeping, awaiting Santa's presents. 

These people would never see their children's smiles light up as they opened gifts this morning, and much to her chagrin she realized this was a Christmas Eve massacre. 

Everyone was dead, not a single person in the entire village was alive. She knew this because as she traipsed further into the clearing, an eerie silence filled her bones with trepidation. 

Ella knew it was futile to use her healing powers because these poor people had been dead since last night, there was nothing she could do, not even with her Divine blood.

Her body shivered, but the gust of wind had already come and pass, she was shivering because the presence of something lingered in the clearing. 

Her feet moved of their own accord, the heated protests from Jazzy and Thomas fell away from her ears. She stilled for a brief moment, taking in her surroundings and using her gifts to sense another beating heart. 

The snap and crackle of a dying fire to her right caught her attention, as did the steady beating of that mystery heart. She furrowed her brow and looked around, straining with her powers to try and sense where the heartbeat was coming from. 

She walked to the right, closer to the where she could hear the fire, moving beyond a beige tent that had blood sprayed across the exterior. Her insides swarmed with revulsion at the sight of the blood. 

She cringed, but moved around the tent, her footsteps stopping as a scruffy man in a brown coat sat on a stump looking out at the fire with completely blank eyes. 

His eyes were void, and from across the fire she swore she saw a tear falling down his cheek, but if it had..it was gone, lost in the scruff of his beard.

Her first reaction was to help because he was the source of the heartbeat she had heard moments ago, but as she came closer to the dying fire, she stopped so suddenly her feet almost tripped over themselves. 

The man's mouth was caked in blood, dried and cracked on the lapels of coat. His hair was rumpled, and she swore she caught glimpses of red stains in his hair. 

A better assessment of this man had the gears turning in Ella's brain. He was the only person here, his heart was still beating and after taking another step forward she saw his hands were stained with blood, but it wasn't all she saw. 

His hands were quivering. 

Her heart leapt to her throat and finally the man's eyes came back to the present, as if the void was gone and he was seeing clearly again.

"You should leave," His voice was slightly hoarse. "Unless you want to end up like them." 

Her mouth parted slightly, unable to say anything, the only thing she could do was shake her head back and forth robotically, confusion lacing her face when her eyes took in the heavy remorse from his eyes. 

The remorse was so thick she could choke on it if it were a tangible object. The man before her was radiating waves of self loathing, guilt and....was that fear of himself? 

A whiff of wind, like a whisper, resounded in the air and the man was off the stump and standing before her in a flash. He was a head taller than her girlish frame. 

His eyes were so enticingly green, while his prominent nose and facial features took her by surprise. Without the scruff, she surmised he had a boyish look to him

He smelled of smoke, blood and death. All the smells were repugnant to her nose, but she didn't rear her back in revulsion. She couldn't when the apparent regret and despair of this man took hold of her heart and squeezed.

_Empathy was her weakness_

"You can leave, or you can end up like them. I'm giving you a choice." 

His tone had a faint trace of desperation to it, his hands were gripping her upper arms and he squeezed for good measure, as if that were part of his warning. 

She should have been abhorred by all of this, by him...completely in fear for her life, but she could only see a soul that was lost and shattered, a soul that hated itself more than the friends and families of these dead people ever would. 

"Run, or I will kill you." He enunciated _I will kill you_ slowly, each word leaving his lips with a harrowing finality to them. It was only when his eyes changed, she knew what she was looking at. 

She had seen that unnatural look twice before in her travels with Jazzy and Thomas. 

With a startled intake of breath, she realized that this man before her was an eternally damned soul, a Vampire. The veins under his eyes were swimming around like little snakes, those green eyes were now garish, taking a more immoral tint to them. 

In the distance she could hear Thomas calling her name, and the sound of his voice seemed to be getting closer. She realized that Thomas and Jazzy had followed her into the clearing, and any minute they would see her. 

And the vampire. 

Ella saw the war in the vampire's eyes, the internal conflict that stirred beneath the surface was brewing like a cauldron about to overflow. Staring into death's eyes she could see beyond the vampire, beyond the eternally damned soul. 

With her abilities she could sense his lack of self-worth, and if she didn't know any better this vampire was on a self-destructive path, knowing full well if he didn't stop, it would be his demise. Sooner or later, hunters would catch up to him, and she got the distinct feeling he didn't care if he lived or died. 

The vampire jerked his head up to the sounds of foreign voices, but his grip held firm to her upper arms. 

Ella swallowed thickly. 

She knew the act she was about to perform would go against the Divine, it would be impulsive and reckless, but something inside her told her that it was the right thing to do.

He was worthy of this.

Her right hand reached up quickly, and she touched the side of his face. He flinched briefly, but no sooner than he did he stilled. 

The warmth and aura of her being flowed into him and when he closed and opened his eyes, they became forest green, no longer the insidious color they had been moments ago. The black veins under his eyes lingered, but they became less malicious. 

"What are you?" He breathed out, as his grip loosened considerably.

"Ella, what are you doing?" Thomas yelled, finding Ella in front of a strange man with blood on his beard and the lapels of his coat. 

"Ella-stop! That's a-" Jazzy's shout died on her lips as she grabbed Thomas's hand and gripped tightly, 

"Vampire." Jazzy whispered the last part, and Thomas' eyes went wide. 

Ella closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly, "Please forgive me, Creator..but he is worthy." 

Her body glowed as she altered the vampire's subconscious and convinced him he was worthy of living, worthy of the redemption she saw in him that he failed to see. She could it upon herself to enter hus mind and alter the events here so he would not remember any of his actions.

As she entered his mind, she could see bits and pieces of his past, a raven-haired boy that looked similar to him, and a dark-haired girl that smiled so sweetly it could make your knees weak. 

When Ella was done, the vampire looked at her quizzically, the veins under his eyes retreating, disappearing completely. He looked less vacant than he had before, his green eyes clearer than she had seen them this entire time. 

He looked so..innocent, it almost made Ella's heart break. He was a vampire with remorse, guilt and self-loathing. A vampire on the brink of self-destruction, and Ella had seen the honest to goodness soul beyond the surface. 

She knew very well what he had just done, the massacre he had just caused in this village, yet Ella had seen the remorse and guilt that permeated from him and saving this vampire from himself was the only thing she could focus on. 

Her mortal emotions had taken hold of her, causing her to do something that would inevitably tear her apart from her friends. 

"Go...now." Ella whispered.

The vampire stared for a second longer at her in awe, before he whisked away into the morning with his vampiric speed. He took off into the woods, leaving behind a small gust of wind in his wake. 

It was here the Unholy Trinity split. 

Jazzy, so overcome with horror, and Thomas fearing retaliation from the Divine or the Creator for being accomplice to such events. 

Though they were Halflings they still had to fear the misuse of their powers, and the fact that Ella had used her powers on an eternally damned soul was among the gravest of mistakes. 

Jazzy couldn't fathom Ella saving a vampire, seeing as a mysterious creature of the night killed her father she was dead set on believing the possibility of it being a vampire. 

Jazzy felt on some level this had been a betrayal. 

Thomas didn't want to be alone, and he feared the Creator, or the Divine would punish them, so he too left with Jazzy that morning...leaving Ella behind. 

Ella traveled alone for almost a hundred years to come, The Unholy Trinity broken and split apart by a vampire, an eternally damned soul. Something long after this first meeting with the vampire would stick with her...

When she entered his mind to alter his subconscious about the events that had happened, Ella faintly heard a name, Stefan Salvatore. The very name and thought of the vampire, Stefan Salvatore, would encompass her mind for years to come. 

Fate would bring them together a time or two more, each time Stefan not entirely remembering, nor understanding if this dark-haired girl was real, or a figment of his imagination. 

Little did either of them know she would arrive in Mystic Falls almost a hundred years later, where the Halfling would see Stefan Salvatore again.

This time instead of just passing like ships in the night...their ships would collide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the past. Their powers and what they can do will be revealed in the next chapter. :)


	3. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind this is Alternate Universe after S4. Stefan isn't drowning in a safe. Silas isn't here (yet). Elena HAS been turned and the Originals have disappeared back to New Orleans. Oh, and Bonnie is alive. Basically, I'm just making up my own story inside the TVD universe. So, there's that. lol First chapter is in 3rd person from Damon.

Damon kicked open the door to the boarding house with his right foot, his hands full of inconsequential trinkets from Spain. He was adorned in a standard black t-shirt with a pair of jeans and boots.

The typical Damon Salvatore attire.

Elena was dressed in a deep purple blouse, black skinny jeans and a comfortable pair of low top black Converse. 

"Lucy!! I'm home!" Damon yelled out with his usual sarcasm.

Elena had begged him to buy each and every keepsake that now filled the bags in his right and left hands. Much to his chagrin he could not say no to Elena Gilbert. There were times that that came as a disadvantage, like now, as he carried items that would collect dust in a matter of months or be thrown in a drawer to be forgotten about.

"I could have gotten that." Elena said behind him as both her hands were occupied with pulling their luggage on wheels behind her. 

Damon shrugged at her words, "My foot works just fine." She rolled her eyes as the door to the boarding house swung open, following him through, only to playfully bump her hip into his as he set down her bags full of touristy souvenirs.

"Did you really need all of this, Elena? Honestly, I could have just ordered this stuff off Amazon, or whatever kids are using these days." 

He picked up a kitchen magnet that had Spain written in girly cursive letters with little bottles of wine bordering the entire trinket. He flared his nostrils at the magnet as Elena plucked it from his hands quickly with a cute smirk on her face. 

"It's not the same because we actually went to Spain to get this. It's more memorable than ordering it online when you've never been there." She placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and Damon gave her a pouty look as she placed the magnet back into the bag. 

Elena's lips formed a smirk, but it was quickly wiped away as Damon's eyebrows furrowed upon realizing the eerie quiet of the boarding house. He expected Stefan and Caroline to greet them upon their entrance, but now that his attention was off Elena his blue eyes did a sweep of the living room and it turned up disappointingly empty. 

"I don't see a mop of blonde hair or a brooding vampire anywhere in here." Damon muttered before stepping away from Elena and into the foyer as he looked around half spooked.

"Stefan?" His voice echoed around the living room and up the stairs, but he got no response in return. He turned to Elena, a quizzical stare on his face as Elena pulled her phone out and started dialing a number. 

"I'm calling Caroline." 

Damon watched as Elena tuned in a half circle, her left hand on her forehead as she seemed to be trying to calm her breathing into a more steady state. They had just gotten back from a two week long vacation post-graduation. Things were looking up, as much as they could considering that Elena was now a vampire.

However, Stefan's bloodlust lately was on and off again. He had taken a dark turn right before graduation and though Damon and Elena were there for him, Elena still felt bad about prancing off to Spain with Damon when Stefan needed them most. 

Caroline had volunteered to be his sober sponsor, and though Stefan seemed to be doing better he was still leaving everyone on edge. He was one bad day away from reverting to his old ways and Damon could see it from the void like stare in Stefan's green eyes. 

She frowned while the phone rang.

Damon could damn near feel the wave of regret and guilt from Elena, his own heart clinched subtly. He knew he should have stayed behind to care for his brother, but Stefan was insistent that he was fine. 

Damon knew better, but he left for Spain with Elena anyways. 

"Caroline! Where is Stefan?" Elena asked urgently.

A peppy blonde cheerleader like voice blared from the speaker phone as Elena held the phone out for Damon to hear. 

_"Elena, don't freak out. I know you said you didn't want him leaving the house, but he's-he's been good. He said he was fine."_

"Yeah, that's exactly what every addict says."  
Damon bit back as the sound of Caroline's groan could be heard from the speaker phone. 

_"You honestly think Stefan was going to stay in that boarding house for two weeks while you two paraded around Spain? Come on, guys. He's doing better. I wouldn't have allowed him out of the house and around people if he wasn't fine."_

"Don't take this personally, but I don't particularly trust your judgment." Damon retorted sarcastically as he glared daggers at the phone where Caroline's voice came from. 

"Wait-around people? Caroline, where are you at?" Elena asked, her shoulders sagging slightly while Damon looked frustrated that Caroline let Stefan leave the boarding house. Stefan promised he wouldn't leave and would stay as far away from people as possible until the two of them got back into town.

There was a pause before she answered, as if Caroline were hesitant on revealing where they were.

_"The grill...we're at the grill. Look-"_

Damon grabbed the phone from Elena and clicked the end call button, instantly disconnecting Caroline's high-pitched voice. Elena looked up at Damon as he sighed, handing her phone back to her. He pulled their luggage to the side and waved his hand towards the front door. 

"Let's go check up on brother dearest." 

Elena walked out first, Damon closing and locking the boarding house door behind him. Elena hesitated and Damon gave her a raised brow, "What?" 

They both got into his vintage Camaro at the same time as Elena sighed, putting her seat belt on and glancing up at Damon hesitantly. 

"I just-I'm wondering if we should have gone on this trip with Stefan being so...up and down." 

Damon looked over at Elena as he started the car, the engine purring as it usually did. It was typically sweet noise to Damon's ears, but today it wasn't. Not with what Elena had just said to him.

He gave her an impassive look, trying his best to hold his emotions in check so she couldn't see the hurt on his face, "You're saying you regret our two week rendezvous in paradise?"

Elena shook her head, sighing heavily because she knew that Damon would automatically go on the defensive about their trip, "No, that's not what I'm saying at all, Damon. I worry about him. And you can't tell me you didn't worry about him while we were gone either." 

She gave him a pointed look as he clenched his jaw tightly and looked back towards the road. She had him there. He did worry about Stefan while they were gone. He could fool everyone around him, but at the end of the day Stefan was blood.

He was his brother. 

Damon had worried about him on more than one occasion while they were out of town. He just didn't want to talk about it while they were having fun. He swept it under the rug so that the two of them could have some much needed time to themselves in Spain, away from Mystic Falls shenanigans.

It was selfish of him, really. 

He knew that, but Stefan was adamant that they shouldn't cancel their plans because of it, and he had been on the mend...but Damon knew how easy it could be to revert back to becoming a terror in the night, a ripper. 

"I don't regret it, Damon. I, uhm, I enjoyed that night in Madrid." Her cheeks turned a hue of pink that Damon loved. He glanced over to her for a long moment, a smirk forming on his chiseled face. 

He wiggled his brows up and down as he spoke, "There will be plenty more night's like that to come." 

Her smile widened and she was like a sunrise on Christmas morning. Damon took in her beauty as the sunshine cast down on her from the window of his car. Her hair was silky, and the color just the right espresso color. She then giggled, which was like a symphony of music to Damon's ears. 

"What? She asked demurely, batting her lashes at Damon as he drove towards town. 

"Just you." He answered simply, his eyes taking her in, appreciating the beauty that radiated from the inside out. 

He knew deep down that Elena wanted more than anything to grow old and have kids. However, the hand that she was dealt since Rebecca forced Matt off the road at Wickery Bridge was not something either of them had been counting on to happen. 

Who could have known that Elena's life was going to come crashing to a complete halt due to the callous actions of a vengeful Original Vampire? 

Damon loved Elena deeply, human or vampire. Though, the selfish part of him knew that her being a vampire would mean he would get the fortune of keeping her forever. However, the more human part of his soul was crushed that her dreams of growing old and having kids had been tarnished. 

He quickly tore his mind away from those thoughts. He wouldn't go down that road. Not today not when they had bigger problems with Stefan's off and on blood binges. 

He quietly slipped his hand over to Elena. 

She smiled as he found a small reprieve from his pessimistic thoughts by gently resting his hand on the top of her left knee. Any touch was enough to silence his thoughts and flood him with warmth.

Elena was alive and she was here with him. 

There were issues to talk about later, but for now Damon just soaked up her presence and found comfort in knowing that at the end of it all Elena had chosen him.

He had gotten the girl. 

♧

Upon entering the grill Damon found Blondie and Stefan near the darts board, Stefan's eyes looking down at his tumbler of amber liquid. Stefan wore a dark gray shirt and dark jeans, while Caroline wore a bright yellow blouse and a pair of dark blue skinny  jeans. The yellow was just as bubbly as Caroline's demeanor. 

Damon grimaced at the anticipation of hearing her high pitched voice. He wasn't in the best of moods.

Caroline's eyes were trained towards the front door as if she expected Damon and Elena's arrival at any second. She quickly averted her eyes away from him. 

She knew full well that Damon had specifically said Stefan was not to be around people until Damon and Elena got back from their trip. Elena sighed in relief beside him and the two of them made their way into the bar and grill. 

"Hey, how was your trip?" Caroline was already talking animatedly the moment he walked up with Elena, her voice high pitched and her eyes darting back and forth between Damon and Elena nervously. 

Caroline was clearly trying to deflect from the issue at hand.

"Peachy. Until I got back and realized that my brother wasn't home." Damon deadpanned, his eyes glaring daggers at Caroline before she whipped her head to Stefan and then back at Damon. 

"I'm right here Damon, and I'm fine. You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here." Stefan responded, his eyes locking with his brother's in a very annoyed way. 

Damon did a double take at Stefan and shook his head in confusion, "I'm sorry, but I didn't realize fine meant ripping into the town mailman's artery and nearly killing him!" Damon used his arms while he whispered loudly, his eyes widening with his growing frustration. 

Stefan quickly averted his gaze away from Damon, the guilt in his eyes was prevalent. 

" _Nearly_ killed is the key word, Damon. Mr. Tucker is just fine now and he thinks it was a nasty dog attack. He doesn't even remember." Caroline whispered back with vehemence as she defended Stefan. 

Elena turned to Caroline with an exasperated look on her face, "Caroline!" She couldn't believe Caroline was acting as if everything was okay since no one had died.

Caroline rolled her eyes lightly, "Okay, I know it matters, but everyone was fine and no one died." 

Damon shook his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Elena turned to Damon and then returned her gaze to Caroline, her brows furrowed slightly at her best friend who was so bravely sticking up for Stefan's most recent behavior. 

As Caroline glared at Damon it became evident what her real problem was. "We've been just fine while you two were out having the time of your lives in Spain." 

The bitter note to Caroline's tone was all that Elena needed to hear and she turned to Caroline, having to do a double take as she closed her eyes and opened them again in astonishment. 

"I'm sorry...excuse me?" Elena demanded.

Caroline nodded sarcastically, "Yeah, you two prance off to Spain right after his binge like everything was just fine." Elena looked as if Caroline had slapped her and Damon gritted his teeth, trying his best not to reach out and snap Caroline's neck in front of all of the people at the grill. 

"I thought you said everything was just fine?" Damon asked while Caroline glared back at Damon's question, her lips mashed together.

"He told us to go, Caroline." Elena stated defensively, though her eyes glanced at Stefan who had sighed heavily and picked up his tumbler of amber liquid. He sipped it silently, trying his best to bite his tongue as everyone argued over his well being. 

"Can I speak?" Stefan finally chimed in, raising his hand like he were in grade school.

"NO! And better yet, you're grounded." Damon responded dismissively. 

Caroline huffed and looked away before crossing her arms against her small chest, her bright yellow top the complete opposite of her mood right now. Her blonde hair bounced in ringlets as she looked away from Elena. 

"If I'm not mistaken I'm pretty sure we had ground rules set until we got back. The last thing I wanted to come back to was another Mystic Falls civilian with their throat torn open." Damon added, with a very lethal frown in Caroline's direction. 

"Wow! Damon Salvatore, the _saint_. Since when did you start caring about the people of this town?" Caroline snipped back, her eyes glued to Damon as she challenged him. He made a face and Elena shook her head as the conversation seemed to be going no where. 

"Who said I cared? I just don't feel like cleaning up another mess." Damon quipped back as Elena put her right hand over Damon's left shoulder, her touch calming him immensely. It also stopped him from doing anything rash against Caroline. 

"Look guys, I appreciate all the babysitting and coddling, but I don't need it. I'm fine." Stefan finally spoke again, looking between everyone. Damon gave Stefan an unconvinced look while Elena looked at Stefan with empathy and concern. 

"Stefan, you know we just care about you, right?" Elena offered as if he and her were the only ones in the room. Stefan caught Elena's encouraging eyes as they softened at him for a brief moment. His own eyes softened in response to Elena. She always had a genuine care in her eyes when she looked at him, even after choosing Damon.

"Which is exactly why you hopped a plane to Spain and left.." Caroline muttered under her breath, her lips in a pout. Stefan gave her a pleading look so that she would stop her with her little remarks. 

It wasn't helping any. 

"Shut it." Damon snipped back as Stefan rolled his eyes, taking a sip of the alcohol that sedated his hunger ever so slightly. Before Stefam could plead his case the lights in the grill flickered on and off. The mere scene brought everyone to high alert given everything they had all been through in the past.

Damon looking around before raising a brow at Caroline, "Bonnie isn't around doing any kind of witchy stuff, is she?" 

Caroline shook her head, "No, she's with Jeremy." 

Stefan set his tumbler down on the high top table, his eyes looking around the grill as the patrons started to look around while the electricity flickered on and off again two more times. 

A dread filled Damon's belly as Elena looked around warily. 

Before Damon could put his finger on the warning bells his body was giving off, the windows busted from the outside in with a loud blast.

What had once been sunshine outside was now pitch black, void of the sun, white clouds and anything warm. It was completely dark as a torrent of black clouds spiraled outside, a huge gust of wind unfurled inside with the busted glass. Damon immediately grabbed Elena, slamming them both into the ground using his body as a shield while Stefan had done the same with Caroline. 

The patrons in the grill either ran out screaming, or were on the floor of the grill, covering their heads and screaming. The smell of blood hit Damon and he felt his stomach shift as that familiar urge hit him. He knew it was only a matter of town before it hit Stefan's senses as well. Damon covered Elena's face with his arms before turning his eyes towards the busted windows. 

Multiple hooded figures cloaked in black robes materialized as if out of thin air, while Stefan was starting to get to his feet, despite the rising howl of the wind whipping through the broken windows. The cloaked figure's pulled back their robes to reveal mostly human looking vessels, but Damon knew well enough that the malevolent glow of red from their eyes was nothing close to being human. 

Coupled with the odd gleam of their skin, they were definitely not of the human kind. They pulled back their lips into a half smirk, half snarl. Stefan glanced for a moment at Damon, his eyes darkening as the smell of iron from the blood hit him. 

Damon rushed to his feet, his eyes narrowed at the evil beings that hovered in the air. 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Matthew Donovan coming from around the counter with what looked to be a crossbow, his eyes furrowed with stupid human bravery that would only get him killed. The moment Matt was about to pull the trigger the weapon was thrown from his hands and across the room, leaving Matt to stagger back in horror. 

Damon's bright blue eyes glanced down at Elena who was already sitting up with Caroline reaching for her and asking her if she were okay. Stefan was frozen solid as the smell of human blood wafted through his senses, paralyzing him with a rush of hunger.

"Caroline, get Stefan out of here. NOW!" Damon ordered quickly.

As she got up she was thrown back towards the bar with a flick of the main robed figure's wrist. Her body crashed behind the bar as Matt ran around to grab her. She popped up, Matt helping her up while her eyes narrowed in rage. 

"That wasn't very nice." Caroline murmured with adrenaline fueling her vampire veins. 

"Mystic Falls is closed! We aren't interested!" Damon yelled out sarcastically in a half-hearted warning.

He knew his attempts to fend off the robed figures with a verbal assault was all in vain. He had a sinking feeling they were about to have quite the fight on their hands just as the robed figures finally touched the ground with their black boots and smiled evilly. 

__

"Our time to surface to the mortal world has come. If you join us now, we will show mercy. Fight against us and you will die. The choice is up to you." 

A robed figure in the middle with spikey jet black hair took a small step forward, his eyes glowing as red as the blood that Damon could smell in the air. Elena looked at Damon with fearful eyes that grew wider by the second. 

Everyone was at a loss for words. Not one person in their group had come across such a demonic force like this. However, Damon was bullheaded and irrational when it came to new threats. He liked to act first and ask questions later.

Damon grimaced as his fangs extended and he sneered, "I've heard that speech before and it's really unoriginal." 

As he rushed forward he heard Elena's protest of cries from behind him, but it was too late because he had already lunged. Without so much as even touching Damon, the robed figure flicked his wrist again and Damon was sent flying across the room towards the pool tables. 

"Damon!" Elena cried out as Damon's body splintered the wall behind him as he fell into it, crashing into the ground. 

He groaned, pulling himself up after a few seconds with his hands bracing the side of the pool table, not even caring that they were exposing themselves in front of the public. That was what compulsion was for. 

"Bon Bon, we could use you right now." Damon groaned as sped back over to Elena protectively, his right hand behind him as if that would shield her from the threat. 

He glared at the robed figures. The main figure with the spikey hair morphed his face from a sinister smile to an angered look that could make even the meanest vampire's blood run cold. It was then Damon realized, much to his chagrin, that they were all in very deep trouble without any back up.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a new fun story I'm writing and I'm happy to share it with you all. I have been a TVD fan since before the show even aired. I'm 28 and remember reading the books in ninth grade..then when I was in college the tv show aired and I fangirled so loud my neighbors probably heard lol 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this story. This fanfic is very Stefan x OC centered. I think Ella is simply amazing as a character and will be great for Stefan (eventual love/romance obviously) ;) Basically it is set after Season 4, and we are going to pretend the Silas stuff hasn't happened and Stefan wasn't stuck in a safe under water the whole Summer.. okay? Okay. XD


End file.
